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16 Interviews With Linux Kernel Hackers
Posted by
Soulskill
on Sat Nov 15, 2008 09:15 AM
from the one-stop-shop dept.
from the one-stop-shop dept.
DeviceGuru writes "The Linux Foundation has published a series of video interviews from the annual Linux Kernel Summit held Sept. 15-16 in Portland, Oregon. In the videos, 16 developers — including Linux creator Linus Torvalds — discuss their kernel development activities. Other kernel hackers interviewed include Rafael Wysocki, Chris Mason, Greg Kroah-Hartman, Mathieu Desnoyers, Paul Mackerras, John Linville, Stephen Rothwell, Kristen Accardi, Dirk Hohndel, Dave Jones, David Miller, Len Brown, Jon Corbet, Frank Eigler, and Ted Tso. A detailed report on the Summit can be found at LWN. Lots of interesting insights into the status and future of Linux!"
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Good morning. (Score:1)
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Text version? (Score:2)
Are there text versions of the interviews available, too?
Sound man? Who's the sound man? (Score:5, Funny)
Did anyone else here have their eardrums destroyed after turning the volume up to 11 to hear Linus mumble and that music starts blasting at the end? I think I'm bleeding now.
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"hackers"? (Score:1, Flamebait)
"Linux Hackers", at least of the Black Hat veriety, conjures up images of people who change the Linux Kernel to include features like key-logging and undetectable remote login...
I guess we could call them Linux Hackers of the White Hat variety, but then the "hacker" part still implies that they are outsideres who are making changes to someone else's code. It sounds like these guys are the original developers
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Actually, you're not being pedantic enough. See The Meaning of 'Hack' [catb.org] in The Jargon File.
Real hackers don't wear hats.
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Modern video bumbeling (Score:5, Informative)
The only place for this is good lectures, think Hawking, Richard_Feynman and short bio bits, eg I am Linus, this is Tove and thats the dog
The recent Obama campaign shows that audio-visual clips can be very good, with expensive speach writers, tele-prompters and good producers, this takes lots of preparaton and money but all pointing a cam at an un-prepared speaker results in is sad junk.
Re:Riddle me this (Score:5, Informative)
1. No fecking media support! I get XMMS inform me on first attempt at playing an MP3 that it won't because of licensing conflict. Wtf? Codecs for avi's and DVDs were a simular story; all had to be downloaded via yum (bloody excellent tool!). Seriously; not good, but fixed in the end.
Licensing restrictions.
2. Why the hell do I have to install a new kernel? Why? I've never had to on Windows - why is Linux different? Is it so buggy? I installed with a factory version something ending 054. Now I have something ending 122 I believe. I did it ok, but that's not the point I'm making; were there really 68 cock-ups so great in the kernel build from release-time until that now they had to re-release 68 times? I'm guessing probablly not, but still.
This one I can't answer. You normally don't need to upgrade kernels unless there is a driver that's supported in newer kernels that you need, or a serious bug/security fix. I rarely upgrade my kernels, and then only to support new hardware.
And by the way, you are occasionally upgrading the Windows kernel, even though it doesn't come right out and say it.
3. Point 2 also breaks my nvidia drivers. I don't want to re-compile new drivers everytime there's a new 'patch'. For the love of god, why?!
You've never had to upgrade video drivers after patching Windows? Not usually on the smaller patches, but going from SP1 to SP2 or even going from 2000 to XP can cause that problem. Upgrading the kernel is a major update to the OS.
4. X-Windows. What a mess. Why do I have to tell it my x & y refresh rates for my monitor? Windows just 'knows'. Many more things here I feel that X-Windows should just 'know' - the number of buttons on my USB mouse for-instance. If Windows can do it, there's no reason why Linux can't. Also, X-Windows 'feels' slower than Windows. I'm sure there's good reasons for this, but I don't care; Windows is snappier.
For the timing, that's really odd, unless you have an ancient monitor. You shouldn't have to do that any more. For the speed, X-Windows is known to be fairly large and bloated, but I've never felt it's any slower than XP on the same machine. And, depending on the WM you use, it can be faster.
5. Lack of decent file-browser. The best I've come across is Nautilus in a mode that resembles Windows Explorer. It'll do for now, but as far as I'm aware, offers no context-sensitive menus for applications (like the Winamp "Play in Winamp" right-click menu on folders.
You didn't mention what WM you were using, but KDE's file browser is quite decent and has context links set up (as long as the distribution you tried has them set up).
Actually, I think that's largely it. In all, Linux has, and is continuing to be great fun to play with. So many cool tools - yum being one of them. I'll stick to Linux @ home; it can only get better, but I'd be interested to know what people think of the above points - any suggestions maybe? I want this to work after all...
There's a learning curve for Linux, that's certainly true. But I've been much happier with my Linux systems than Windows; as I was saying to someone else the other day, once I get it set up, a Linux system runs forever. If there are security updates I'll do those (and unless it's in the kernel, you don't even have to reboot), or if I get new hardware that's not supported in the current kernel, I'll update, but otherwise it's fine without my intervention.
My experience with Windows, on the other hand, is that I have to do some constant maintenance to it, usually just rebooting (usually after annoying dialog boxes that keep coming back) but sometimes more, such as recently when my laptop's hard drive started thrashing for no discernible reason under XP (ccleaner fixed the problem, whatever it was). In another example, someone the other day was suggesting I download each SP
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You've never had to upgrade video drivers after patching Windows? Not usually on the smaller patches, but going from SP1 to SP2 or even going from 2000 to XP can cause that problem.
Installing a new operating system (XP is not 2000) doesn't really count as "patching".
Oh, and don't feed the troll.
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Windows 2000 is Windows NT 5.0, and Windows XP is Windows NT 5.1...
Now, the kernel isn't the only thing that's different between the two, obviously, but since we are talking about kernel upgrades...
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Installing a new operating system (XP is not 2000) doesn't really count as "patching".
I agree, but my point was that upgrading the kernel is quite a bit more than simply patching something - it's (usually) less than an OS upgrade but more than a patch. Some extra work when you upgrade such a major component shouldn't be unexpected.
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You've never had to upgrade video drivers after patching Windows?
I've never had to upgrade video drivers when applying a "Service Pack" or regular updates. My video driver updates were driven by either game wonkyness or OS "upgrades". YMMV, of course.
Having said that, the Linux kernel team (rightly, IMO) goes out of their way to encourage folks to get their drivers in-kernel.
WRT constant Windows tweaking:
I used to have to do that sort of thing.
Then two things happened.
1) I acquired Win 2K3 from school.
2) I only ever use Windows for video games and Linux for everything el
Re:Riddle me this (Score:4, Informative)
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Re:Riddle me this (Score:4, Informative)
"My Linux Annoyances as a Hardended Windows user" [google.com]
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Recursion (Score:1)
I love how the first result on that page is your comment with a link to those results.
My mind just exploded.
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No, but it already has problems with fonts and libraries and on composited displays (no antialiasing, and it's a gtk1 app!) sometimes. It's been dropped from debian/unstable.
xmms2 exists, but is NOT comparable - xmms' distinguishing feature was its GUI, xmms2 is Yet Another Audio Backend Framework. Essentially, xmms2 killed the characteristic, familiar souped-up-winamp xmms frontend that was always xmms' distinguishing feature and wrote another backend in already oversaturated "market" of backends. I gue
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So? I actually use XMMS2 and it looks pretty solid to me.
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I think the point there is that XMMS was a mature, featureful, and highly used media player. Then, they repurposed the name and nothing but and produced a completely different program, that came in as a new entrant in a very crowded field, and hasn't seen large mainstream adoption.
It's not that it's bad... it's that many people (me included) were interested in XMMS. But most of us don't care about XMMS2, because it doesn't do what we needed out of XMMS, and we already have eight things that do a better jo
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Well, in the sense that XMMS2 is not XMMS I agree.
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What I'm confused by is that you're using it to listen to Music For Airports. I mean, I love Bryan Eno as much as the next guy (more, usually), but that album?
It's accurately titled, I'll give it that.
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1. No fecking media support! I get XMMS inform me on first attempt at playing an MP3 that it won't because of licensing conflict.
Why dont the distros use the Fluendo's mp3-plugin. Its Open Source, free, license/patent-fee-free. Am I missing something, any insights about this?
For the one who are not aware of it - http://www.fluendo.com/resources/fluendo_mp3.php [fluendo.com] :
Any distribution or Unix maker out there who want to include the Fluendo MP3 plug-in with their distribution can do so by just signing a contract with Fluendo to become an official redistributor. This contract includes no monetary compensation to Fluendo for getting the right to redistribute the Fluendo MP3 plug-in and no demands of additional purchases from Fluendo. The main purpose of the contract is to satisfy our upstream contractual requirements. By signing this contract any distribution can support mp3 out of the box without any additional license fee. Take a look at the example contract and contact us at info@fluendo.com for details.
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The source may be available, but it isn't GPL-compatible and isn't necessarily patent free. Fee free is not patent free.
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Because whether or not you sign a contract with Fluendo, it's still illegal to distribute Fluendo (or ANY other MP3 codec/decoder) in the US, UK and EU and other patent-encumbered countries without paying Fraunhofer. Since most people (with a computer) live in the US, UK or the EU or the developers are based there, it will remain illegal unless someone wants to pony up ~$11/installation. There are linux distro's (commercial) that provide MP3 support out of the box.
Re:Riddle me this (Score:4, Funny)
I have made the switch to Linux (Fedora Core 5)
Your trolling is out of date.
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His first point is the really funny one, because at least some versions of Vista also force you to download codecs - AIUI due to an EU anti-trust ruling.
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I have made the switch to Linux (Fedora Core 5)
Your trolling is out of date.
Aye. Fedora 10 comes out in 9 days.
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1. No fecking media support! I get XMMS inform me on first attempt at playing an MP3 that it won't because of licensing conflict. Wtf? Codecs for avi's and DVDs were a simular story; all had to be downloaded via yum (bloody excellent tool!). Seriously; not good, but fixed in the end.
See this page to understand why these things are not included by default. [fedoraproject.org] Essentially you are either complaining that you aren't getting something for free that requires royalties (or you don't agree with the current laws making the use of these technologies without paying royalties illegal). =) This is why many people try to use and promote the use of non-restricted formats.
2. Why the hell do I have to install a new kernel? Why? I've never had to on Windows - why is Linux different? Is it so buggy? I installed with a factory version something ending 054. Now I have something ending 122 I believe. I did it ok, but that's not the point I'm making; were there really 68 cock-ups so great in the kernel build from release-time until that now they had to re-release 68 times? I'm guessing probablly not, but still.
All software has bugs. =) I don't think you're ever *forced* to upgrade your Linux kernel, but it's generally a good idea to keep u
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GUI file-browsers are for chumps. /Real/ *nix guys just use a terminal and a mixture of the sysutils.
It's faster that way, really. If you don't believe me, try it for a while -- you'll see. A few weeks getting comfortable with doing everyth
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>For example, those second rate .Net/PHP clickee-click web programmers.
I thought they all worked in McDonald's these days?
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This troll should be modded funny IMHO. That might cause casual /. lurkers wonder what it is that is funny in the post. Someone might do some research, god forbid.
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Almost certainly not. There might be a fix for critical security hole
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It's still good to keep reminding people that there's another recent meaning though.
I guess. I still don't think it would be sensible to title an article about, say, a jovial developers' seminar as "Gay Time Had at Linux Confab."
There comes a time when you just have to let a word go...
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oh shit, you'd better go tell the guys that run http://hackaday.com/ [hackaday.com] . Thanks dude, I had no idea!
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Happily for modern civilization, the guys at hackaday.com - whatever the hell that is -- don't get much of a vote regarding what meanings of what words make it into the vernacular. When the guys at nytimes.com and OED.com reverse the meaning of "hacker" back to its hobbyist definition, give me a call...
Re:I Did Not Think Anybody Hacked into Linux? (Score:5, Insightful)
Who cares what the mainstream usage is? Slashdot is not a mainstream website. It is targeted at nerds, and it uses words with the meanings nerds give them. There is no ambiguity going on here. "Kernel hackers" is the correct terminology for Slashdot's target audience.
Perhaps you should report O'Reilly to the police, as clearly you must believe they are selling a whole range of books [oreilly.com] aimed at criminals.
Parent
Re:I Did Not Think Anybody Hacked into Linux? (Score:5, Insightful)
The OS that runs the majority of websites is "relatively obscure" and not a popular hacker target? Ri-i-i-ight.
"Gay" still does mean "merry". Feel free to tell a Scotsman that "the Gay Gordons" is only danced by homosexuals. I'll be sure to visit you in hospital to find out how he took the news.
Newsflash: some words have multiple meanings, and humans are actually quite good at distinguishing between them. Ambiguity is more likely to lead to comedy than to confusion.
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Yea but he is right in this context most humans wouldn't be able to distinguish them. Maybe most here but in general anything about hackers is thought of as the black hat kind.
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